Iron Goat Trail — Thursday, Mar. 10, 2005

Central Cascades > Stevens Pass - West

I had originally wanted to do this peak as a winter climb, but then winter decided not to show up. Oh well. As I drove to within view, all the southern slopes were completely bare of snow. Most folks start out from Hwy 2 near the town of Scenic and begin a direct ascent of the SE ridge, passing over/around the Windy Point Tunnel. I figured I could save myself a few hundred feet of bushwacking (but add a bit of distance) by starting my trip at the Iron Goat TH. Lots of interesting signage, old RR tunnels and history can be found on both the upper and lower grades of this once switchbacking railroad. For this climb, I of course chose to hike the upper grade, which can be reached just a couple hundred feet after starting from the TH (lower grade). Now note the USGS. While hiking E on the upper grade, you will pass two streams coming down off the mountain side. The second one (angled NNE towards the summit) is where I left the trail. You will know when you get here, as a very large concrete wall spans the drainage. Walk to the E side of this and you'll find a stairwell leading to the top of this wall, and to the spillway once used for firefighting when the RR was active. This spillway is still intact and somewhat interesting to look at. You can begin the ascent from the top of the stairwell, or from the spillway like I did. From the spillway I battled with 40' of devils club before entering the woods on the E side. The woods are brushy, but only very mildly. Just keep the stream to your left until around 3400', where the way shifts a bit and gets on a more defined ridge heading NE. At about 4000' I got out of the woods and into some thigh-high leaf-less shrubbery. It's all pointing downhill, so you'll have to work against the grain. Lots of game trails, bedding areas and sleeping deer were found on this open hillside. The only area I found consistent snow at was the flat area below the summit, where it was up to a couple feet deep. I was only a little impressed with the summit, which is a rocky mound halfway surrounded by trees. It took a little over 2 hrs to reach the top, at a moderate pace. The descent was fast and easy. I stopped at about 4900' to eat lunch and watch the mile-long trains creep up and down the valley, far below. After that quick break, it was less than 2 hours back to the TH. The Wellington Train Disaster that occured in this area happened almost 95 years ago. If you are interested I have posted these links that offer goods pics and history of the area. Exploring all the RR areas (both Iron Goat and Wellington) prior to climbing Windy made it a more meaningful experience for me. http://home1.gte.net/mvmmvm/index.html http://www.historylink.org/essays/output.cfm?file_id=5127 http://www.historylink.org/wellington/overview.htm